A state judge ruled for Richmor last year, awarding the company $1.6m (£980,000). In May, an appeals court confirmed the decision, cutting the costs awarded to $874,000. But Richmor argues it still has not been paid in full.

During the trial, Richmor's president, Mahlon Richards, described flights as classified and said passengers were "government personnel and their invitees", in a court transcript published by the UK-based Guardian newspaper.

But he also said he was aware of allegations his planes flew "terrorists" and "bad guys".

A state department spokesman told the Associated Press news agency that the department has a policy of not commenting on "alleged intelligence activities".

Parallel pattern

The court files include contracts, flight invoices, mobile phone records and correspondence, but do not give details of who was on board the planes apart from a count of crew and passengers.

In many cases, the flights coincide with the arrests and transport of some prominent terrorism suspects captured in the months after the 9/11 attacks.

Some of the details revealed include:

Airport invoices and other commercial records provide a paper trail for the movements of some terrorism suspects allegedly held in secret CIA prisons, along with government operatives who flew to the scenes of their detention.

The records include flight itineraries coordinated with the arrest of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the suspected transport of other detainees.

The private jets were given US state department transit letters providing diplomatic cover for their flights.

The private business jets sometimes landed several times during a single mission, and in at least one case cost the US government as much as $300,000 for one flight.